Sarah Bell had completed only one year of her two-year term on a federal committee to help farmers of color before she learned the work would be “on pause.”
In 2024, Bell, an Asian American farmer in the South, was one of 15 appointees on the Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers. The committee was established in the 2008 Farm Bill to improve access to U.S. Department of Agriculture programs for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
She and her group hit the ground running. They met virtually, learned about USDA’s programs and offerings, hosted public meetings in Tarrytown, New York, and finally began crafting recommendations for the secretary of agriculture’s review.
A year later, President Donald Trump returned to office and the committee was put on hold, abruptly halting its progress. In its own report, the USDA confirmed that the group “did not meet or make recommendations” in 2025.
“It’s really disappointing, but I’m not surprised,” Bell said.
Despite this, the committee remains dormant, with no new appointments or clear answers about its future. A farmer who served alongside Bell shared with Capital B a notice that members received. It states that this committee and a few others were “left on paper due to strict statutory obligations dictated by Congress.”
“The administration has utilized an operational freeze to neutralize them, rendering them dark by withholding the administrative logistics needed to convene meetings, process member communications, or publish notices in the Federal Register,” the notice said.
At a time when access to federal resources and programs is particularly critical for farmers of color, producers and advocates say this committee is more important than ever. They are now turning to congressional leaders for answers about why such a vital committee is “operationally frozen.”
Harvey Reed III, an advocate who served on the committee between 2015 and 2023, sent letters to the House Agriculture Committee, requesting lawmakers ensure the committee moves forward. Reed also served as chairperson during his last term on the committee before resigning.
“This is the thing that I’m looking at right now because there is no voice, and you need committee members in there who are proactive and steadfast, who’s going to do the job and bring recommendations to the secretary, and not feel threatened or become a target of the administration,” Reed told Capital B.
Capital B reached out to several USDA representatives who did not respond to requests for comment. Capital B also reached out to several congressional leaders on the House and Senate Agriculture committees.
The only person to respond by the time of publication was U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown of Ohio, who is the vice ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee. She said she’s committed to working with her colleagues to demand answers and hold USDA accountable.
“For too long, Black and minority farmers were shut out of the rooms where decisions were made at USDA. Congress created the Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers as a long-overdue first step toward ensuring USDA serves all farmers,” she wrote in a statement. “It’s outrageous, if not surprising, that the Trump Administration appears to have sidelined this committee. The Administration cannot simply ignore a legal mandate because it doesn’t fit its agenda.”
Silenced for a second time
This isn’t the first time the minority farmers committee has been put on ice.
Since the committee’s inception, it has been disbanded twice, both times under the Trump administrations, Capital B previously reported. Even Dewayne Goldmon, a former committee member and senior adviser for racial justice and equity to the secretary of agriculture, pointed out in 2023 that the inactivity made it hard for farmers to achieve meaningful change.
In 2023, a Capital B analysis of Freedom of Information Act data found that the USDA implemented only 4% of the committee’s recommendations, either partially or fully, over a 15-year period. However, USDA reported that 88% of recommendations have been fully implemented over the committee’s life.
This week, Capital B submitted another FOIA for data from 2023 to present.
Some have questioned whether the committee is necessary, given concerns about how few recommendations have been implemented. Yet, in its own report, the USDA affirmed that “it is in the public interest” for the minority farmers committee to be active, as it allows members to share their experiences and views with the agency. USDA officials “expect” that these exchanges will “quantifiably increase” the reach and participation of farmers of color and ranchers in the agency’s programs, the report said.
Already, it has been alleged that the Trump administration won’t meet with Black farmers, which makes this group more critical, Reed said. Of the 128 advisory committees, this is the only one that addresses Black farmers, according to a list by the General Service Administration.
“If you have no representation, the secretary would never get comments and recommendations from anybody because there’s nobody looking like us sitting on there,” Reed said. “That’s why farmers can’t get the information they need to get. There’s nobody there doing the outreach on a full scale.”
Moving forward, Bell said she hopes there’s recognition of the experience, wisdom, and land stewardship of Black and Indigenous farmers, and the need to support their work not just to feed communities, but to protect the land.
“The USDA has served, for a long time, huge farms, corporations,” Bell said. “The agricultural system includes smaller-scale farmers, including the folks that actually grow food for their communities. Being a voice for those farmers is really important.”
Read More:
